BENGALURU: E-tailers such as Walmart-owned Flipkart, Amazon and SoftBank-backed Meesho, among others, are all set to hold their annual festive season sale soon, and this time it is expected that the first week of the season will garner more sales compared to the last year.
In its recent report, Redseer said festive sales will grow by 28 per cent to reach USD 5.9 billion in the first week itself. The sales during the entire festive month are projected to reach USD 11.8 billion this year, compared to USD 9.2 billion in 2021.
It is predicted that the fashion category is looking at strong growth this year and influencer marketing is projected to expand to a USD 16.4 billion industry this year. Klub and CRED’s report on the festive season said from UPI-based payment systems to improved security during online payments, an overall change in payment method has also been reflected in consumer purchase behaviour.
Also, e-commerce giants are shifting their focus to tier-II and -III cities. In 2021, 1.5x more customers signed up for Prime Membership compared to the previous year’s Prime Day, with two out of three new members joining from outside of the top 10 towns or cities, says the report. Logistics start-up Shiprocket added 68,000 new sellers in 2020 alone, where 51 per cent were from tier-II and -III cities.
This year for The Big Billion Days (TBBD), Flipkart has onboarded over 2 lakh Kirana delivery partners. Flipkart group company Myntra has created over 16,000 direct and indirect seasonal employment opportunities through its partners to cater to the expected surge in sales during the festive period.
It also added over 1,000 executives as part of Myntra’s customer support service. The neighbourhood Kirana store partners will play a pivotal role by fulfilling 80 per cent of the festive orders across the country, it said.
As the Indian economy has revived its growth trajectory, and consumer spending power has also increased post-pandemic, festive hiring is also anticipated to grow by at least 30 per cent -35 per cent as compared to the previous year, said Randstad India.